Ephraim m



E. M. HOLMES.

TRACTOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.11, 1919.

Patented Mar. 9, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEETI E. M. HOLMES.

TRACTOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-T7, 1919-.

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TRACTOR.

APPUCATIQN FILED FEB. 11. 1919.

1,333,418. Patented Mar. 9,1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

[n v enfor, 5 0 rain? flffib 777765 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EPHRAIM M. HOLMES, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR '10 DANIELE. FRENCH,

OF STUART, FLORIDA.

'rnnc'ron.

Specification of Letters I'atent.

Original application filed February '23. 191 s, Serial No. 218,711. Divided and. this application filed ret- To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, EPHRAIM M. HOLMES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tractors, of which-the following is a specification.

My invention relates to tractors intended primarily for agricultural work- The present application is a division of application Serial Number 218,711, filed February 23, 1918, and the object of the invention as claimed in the present case is to provide a. motormounting in which the motor is supported on theframe'in such mannerthat straining and racking are avoided when the tractor is operated over rough and ridged ground. I accomplish the objects of my invention by securing the motor at one end rigidly to the frame while at the other end the motor is pivotally or oscillatingly supported at a single central point. v

The full objects and advantages of my invention will appear in connection with the detailed description thereof and are particularly pointed out in the claims.

Inthe drawings, illustrating theapplication of my invention in one form,

Figurel is a plan view of the tractor showing a few eras parts in section. Fig. 2 is a *side elevational view one of the steering wheels being removed and with one ofthe driving wheels partly broken away. Fig. 3 is a rear elevational view. y

In carrying out my invention I provide a frame consisting of two parallel longi tudinal beams wand 12 and two shorter beams 14 and 16 extending from the front of the frame and having their rear portions bent inwardly and secured to the longitudinal beams at 18 and 20 between the ends of said beams. The longitudinal mem bers 10 and 12 are secured together by transverse frame members 22 and 24. wh le transverse members 26 and27secure the members 10 and 14 and 12 and 16 respectively. The frame is supported at its front by two drive wheels 28 and 30 rotatablv mounted on a stationary shaft 32 secured by U-shaped pieces. .t-othe longitud n l m mbers 10 and ruary 17, 1919. Serial No. 277,510.

12 and also secured to the short members 14 and 16. At the rear, the frame is supported by two steering wheels 34 and 36 which are about half the width of the drive wheels 28 and 30. The wheels 34 and 36 are mounted on stub shafts 38 which are secured to a curved bar 42 which is pivotally connected by horizontal pivot 44 to a forked member 46 the upper end of which is rotatably mounted in a vertical bearing 48 carried by a bracket 50 secured to the rear ends of the longitudinal frame members 10 and 12 and strengthened by braces 52. It thus becomes apparentthat the frame is supported on four wheels but so far as movement is concerned is supported at three points, namely, at the pivot 44 and atthe points where the shaft 32 passes through the hubs of the two drive wheels. The ends of the curved'bar 42 are connected by a straight bar 40' which may be removed if desired for a purpose to be referred to later. i V For operating the steering wheels, two chains 54 and 56 have their rear ends fastened to the curved bar 42 2113 58 and 60 while their forward ends are wound in opposite directions as shown in Fig. 3 around drums 62 and 64 which are secured to a shaft 66' retatably mounted in bearings formed on brackets 68 and 70 depending from the frame. For turning the shaft in either direction as desired it is connected by worm gearing 72 with a shaft 74 supported by standard 76 and the shaft 74 has a hand wheel at 78 at its upper end positioned within reach from an operators seat 80 mounted upon an adjustablespring-sup orted rod 82 extending into a socket 84 at the rea of the frame.

The motor and transmission system with which my tractor is equipped are mounted tow rd the f ont of the frame. as best shown in Fig. 2. The motor. which is Dr fPr'flb V an internal combustion engine, is designated bv t e character 86 and is supported at three p in s. two of wh ch are at each side of the front thereof as indicated at 88 and 90 on t tran ers me bers 26 and 27. and the third p nt of whi h is at the center and rear'of the engine This third point of sup- Patented. Mar. 9, 1920.

port is constituted by a bearing 92 on the crossbar 24 into which fits a cylindrical extension 93 on the engine housing capable of turning. in the bearing. On account of this method of mounting, the engine is not subj ected to straining action when the tractor is operating over rough ground. A radiator and a fuel tank, indicated at 94 and 96, and theother parts common to engines of this type are located as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The crankshaft of the engine drives the usual transmission device contained in the transmission casing 98 supplied with the customary differential, the differential shafts of which extend in opposite directions through cannon housings 100. and 102 for operating the two drive wheels, the shafts being operatively connected with the drive wheels through. gears 104 meshing with internal gears 106 on the driving wheels. A countershaft'108mountedin a cannon housinn 109 has secured on its outerend, a belt pulley 110 for stationary power purposes. The housingslOO and 102 are secured to the front of the frame members and have the additional function. of strengthening the frame.

Secured to each of the differential shafts are. brake drums 112 .and 114 with which brake bands 116 and 118 of ordinary construction are adapted to cooperate. The brake bands may be. opera ed by rods 120 and 122 connected topedals124 and 126 within reach of the operator, so that the drive wheels 28 and 30 may be independently braked. The operation of an important feature of mv invent-ion isnow readily apparent. If. for instance, the brake be applied to the right-hand drive wheels 30. as viewed in. Fig. 1, and the hand'wheel be operated to swing thesteering wheels to the right, then the tractor will swine around the drive wheel 30 as. a pivot and either a square turn or a riaht-about turn can bemade. This is a particularly desirable feature in farm tractors.

A chitch lever. 128 is pivoted to the frame M3130 and through the rod 132 is adapted to: operate the clut h 134 of ordinary onstruction. A throttle control handle 136 is pivoted to the bearine' of the standard 76 and through the rod 138, bell-crank 140 and rod 142 is adapted to control the c stomary throttle 144. A gear shifter handle 146 is mounted in the quadrant 148 and is secu ed to'oneend of a rotatable and lon itudinallymovable rod 150, the other end of which is adapted to" operate a 7 gear shifter 152 of the usual construction.

Depending from the lon itudinal beams 10"and 12 toward the front ends thereof 7 are twobrac'ket members 154 and 156which are strengthened by b aces 1 58. A series of holes 160 areprovided ineach of these brac et members and a transverse rod 162 is; adjustahly positioned these holes. A

open when used for cultivating. In this case the implement to be drawn may be connected to the lug 166 by means of a drawbar inserted in the hole 168. A starting crank for the engine is shown at 170.

The operation and advantages of my invention will be. obvious from the foregoing description. When the tractor passes over rough ground, or whenever there is a tendency in any way. for the frame to be lifted more on one side than on the other, the fact that one end of the motor is centrally and pivotally or oscillatingly mounted climinates the straining and racking which would result when both ends of the motor are rioidly secured to the frame.

I claim:

1. A tractor comprising a frame. a motor, means for se urin the front end of said motor rigidly to said frame. means for supportingthe rear end of said motor at a single central point on said frame. said last-mentioned means including a h rizontal pivotal connection. drive wheels at the front of said frame. drivins connections between said motor and said drive Wh els, steering wheels at the rear end of said fra e. and means for o erating said steering wheels.

2. A tractor comprising" a. frame. a motor, two transverse bars sec red to said frame, the front corners of said motor beinQ supported bv ,qaid transverse b s. a tra sverse b r s cured to said frame adiacent the rear of said motor. a bearing memb r secured to said trans erse bar, a cylindrical me ber exten in from the rear of said motor into said bcarino member. d ive wheels at the front of s d frame. d ivi connections between said motor and said drive wheels. and steering wheels at the rear end of said frame.

3. A tra tor comprising a frame ha ing a su tantiallv rectan nlal' p rtion formed with lon tudinal side me b rs ex endino; from the front to .the rear of the tractor and sunn mental members o tside of sa d longitudinal members evtendinn lono'itndin-nllv f om the front of the trnetor and having their rear p rtions turned inwardlv and sec red t s d lon itudinal members between the ends thereof. a stationar transverse Shaft secured to all of said me bers toward the f ont ends e f. drive wh els monnted on the end of said shafts. two tra s rse, bars secured resne ivelv to the l itn nal su lemental members at t o sides of the tractor. a n otor'secnred at its front o said s e se b a transverse bar a cnt the rear; of said motor secured to said longitudinal members and to the inwardly tween said connection and said drive wheels, turned portions of said supplemental memand steering Wheels at the rear end of said bers, a bearing member secured to the midframe. 10 dle of said transverse bar, a cylindrical In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my 5 member extending from the rear of said signature.

motor and rotatably mounted in the said bearing member, driving connections lie- EPHRAIM M. HOLMES. 

